New hydrazzo finish cracking

[Donnamp]

I've been a pool owner for about 40 yrs now. I've had marcite and fiberglass pool finishes. We bought a new house 5 yrs ago with an ugly pool. Last April (2015), we had it resurfaced with hydrazzo. In April I noticed this mark on the wall in the corner that I was able to brush off. Thought it may have been a creature that got into the pool during the winter when it was covered. This weekend I noticed it was back and that it was actually a crack in the hydrazzo. It's about 18" long.
The pool is 18 x 36 rectangle, depth is 3'-5'. I have a variable speed pump and an electric heater. I live in Fl so the pool was covered for only 3 months and I kept up with testing and adding chemicals. The pool was built in 1987. I have all my pool chemical testing papers and they are all good since it was refinished with the exception of chlorine and Ph being out of whack slightly after a party or heavy use. I brush and vacuum the pool weekly.
My question is what could have caused this crack?

 

[pooldv]

Water chemistry can do a lot of damage to a pool finish but cracks is not one of them. Cracks are caused by movement. Was there a crack in the shell when it was being refinished? I assume not. I have had a few cracks in my plaster from soil movement. PB fixed them with underwater curing epoxy color matched to the finish. One repair is almost 4 years old and the other was done last summer. We have clay soil here and it is important to maintain soil moisture year round to avoid movement of the pool shell.

 

[Donnamp]

There weren't any cracks in the original finish. The pool was built in 1987 and there isn't any evidence of the pavement cracking around that side of the pool. If there was movement in the soil wouldn't that affect the pavement too? Also, if there was soil movement wouldn't the shell be cracked as well and I should be losing water?

 

[Casey]

Welcome to TFP. I'm so sorry to hear of this crack. Have you called the installer?

 

[Donnamp]

Welcome to TFP. I'm so sorry to hear of this crack. Have you called the installer?

Yes, and they came out and looked at it over two weeks ago. Didn't say what could have caused it. He was supposed to contact the manufacturer of hydrazzo about it. Haven't heard from him since. Called again and left message. Pool supply place said it could have been bad prep work so I wanted to get another opinion. Do you think it could have been poor prep work?

 

[slangman]

Hi Donnamp. What ever happened with your hydrazzo finish cracking? Are you having any other issues? Who was your installer? Thx for the help.

 

[Donnamp]

Hi Donnamp. What ever happened with your hydrazzo finish cracking? Are you having any other issues? Who was your installer? Thx for the help.

Resurrection Pools was my installer. They came out and drained the pool and filled in the crack with an epoxy. Didn’t even come close to the hydrazzo color. Now two years later the crack looks worse and there’s another problem. My pool is caged and it’s close to the roof line. The pebbles from the shingles get into the pool through the screen during rain. The pebbles are now sticking to my hydrazzo finish. I can’t brush them off. Resurrection pools came out and asked for my water testing sheets from Pinch A Penny, which I got for them, and saw no problems with my water quality. Also, I have these great big calcium deposits on the bottom and walls, unlike any I have seen before. I love the hydrazzo look but there’s too many problems with it. I am now filing a warranty claim with the manufacturer.

 

[knickchick4205]

Wow! How frustrating! i am so sorry that you are having difficulties! Good luck!